La Cucina for Hyle
The unique value of human relations
La Cucina for Hyle
The unique value of human relations
The Sila, the mountain and the woods; rivers and lakes; a still virgin territory, rich in raw materials and energy. This is where Hyle stands, the new restaurant of the young and talented chef Antonio Biafora, who in his homeland of Calabria pursues the philosophy of a research cuisine intertwining two levels, personal and territorial.
Antonio took his first steps in haute cuisine at the Biafora Restaurant, which is part of the tourist complex managed by his family for three generations, the Biafora Resort & Spa in San Giovanni in Fiore (Cosenza): which is where he
began his apprenticeship. Among his teachers and mentors, there are also the chefs Francesco Bracali and Frank Rizzuti: «I was very impressed by the fact that both of them had strongly desired a customised cooker for their restaurants” – he says. “Since then this wish became my own, thinking that one day I too would have my restaurant, my team, and a cooker tailored for me ".
Then that day really came, when the Biafora Resort & Spa made a further evolutionary leap in the restaurant
business with the new Hyle project. The name is a reference to the noble traditions of Sila, given that the Greek term - "ile" meaning "matter" - was used to indicate the Calabrian plateau, so rich in vegetation and timber, i.e. "matter". Here Antonio has decided to refine his cuisine of research and experimentation, identifying the most interesting local products to be used in a very original way with different cooking techniques and combinations. He is assisted by a young, competent and
passionate team, just like him. However, that old dream of "tailor-made cooker" still had to be fulfilled: who to entrust such a delicate task to? "Human relationships were decisive: mutual knowledge, respect, esteem", explains the chef, who in Lecce during FoodExp had the chance to meet the Berto’s Area Manager Dario Iurlano, and told him about his new project. Further elements were defined during the chef’s visit to the company in Tribano, accompanied by our partner Giovan Battista Belcastro and Ing. Giuseppe Mazzei. One component at a
time, detail after detail, the unique La Cucina created by Berto's for Hyle took shape, in which Antonio was able to choose every single detail, such as the steel thickness of 4 millimetres and the right shade of light grey, perfect for the monobloc to be inserted "on view” in the elegant restaurant. «I am almost more jealous of the kitchen than of my wife…» he confides jokingly, and one day aims to bring the sixth Michelin star to Calabria: «Certainly not because of frivolous personal ambition - he underlines - but because it would be an important recognition for my land and for the people who daily work with effort, passion and enthusiasm together with me».
